High School Gymnastics: Eagles finish second at Huron meet

January 25, 2008|By American News Sports Staff

HURON - The Aberdeen gymnastics team recorded seven personal best marks during the last regular season competition. The Golden Eagles finished second with 132.45 points at the Huron Triangular on Thursday. Watertown won with 146.2 points and Huron was third at 128.8. “It was a very good meet especially at this time of the season,” said Aberdeen coach Jennifer Deutsch. “It's starting to wind down and you're getting nervous that the athletes bodies might be winding down. They're hanging in there. It was a great mark for us (132.45) at this time of the season. I think we hit some more connections better and didn't have as many falls on beam and floor. Our bars went more smoothly and vault went well.” Adrianne Skaggs put together two fourth-place finishes. She recorded a personal best score of 9.05 in the balance beam for fourth place and was also fourth in the all around at 35.15. Skaggs needs just one more all around score of 35 or more to automatically qualify for the state meet in the event. Skaggs also recorded her second qualifying mark on the beam with a 9.05 and needs one more score in the 9s for the state meet. Another highlight for the Golden Eagles might be hidden in the junior varsity results but the squad's only senior Brittany Malsam performed on the uneven bars for the first time in her career. She has practiced the event her entire career but never competed in a meet. “It was her first time on bars and the last chance to do it. We push the athletes to do all four events whether they compete in them or not. She finally did bars her senior year in the last regular season meet,” Deutsch said. Brooke Horner returned from a hand injury and competed on the balance beam. She scored a 7.5 after missing a month. Other personal records were scored by Heather Heyd on the bars (6.45), Ida Meklenborg on the floor (8.7), Malsam on the floor (8.4), and Alli Arampatzis on the beam (7.9), floor (8.35) and all around (31.85). “This was our last regular season meet. It's also the last meet for the JV,” Deutsch said. “I told them they needed to come together and have fun together as an entire team. This was our last time together. They needed to get after it and perform to their best and go get those scores. To show the judges they deserve those scores and give them a little bit of the wow factor with their routines.” The Golden Eagles have some time to prepare for the Eastern South Dakota Conference meet at Pierre on Feb. 2. “Now that they've showed me those connections and no falls, we'll work on putting some new skills in,” Deutsch said. VARSITY Team Points: Watertown 146.2, Aberdeen Central 132.45, Huron 128.8 Vault: Ida Meklenborg, 7.5; 2, Adrianne Skaggs, 8.85; Jordan Swanson, 8.6; Brittany Malsam, 8.2; Alli Arampatzis, 8.55; Heather Heyd, 7.75. Uneven Bars: Skaggs, 8.6; J. Swanson, 7.8; Alli Arampatzis, 7.05; Maria Decker, 7.2; Allison Marnette, 6.75; Heyd, 6.45 (personal record). Balance Beam: Meklenborg, 6.4; 4, Skaggs, 9.05 (PR); J. Swanson, 8.8; Malsam, 6.7; Alli Arampatzis, 7.9 (PR); Decker, 7.2; Brooke Horner, 7.5. Floor Exercise: Meklenborg, 8.7 (PR); Skaggs, 8.65; J. Swanson, 8.6; Malsam, 8.4 (PR); Alli Arampatzis, 8.35 (PR); Mercedes Charlton, 8.05; Decker, 7.7. All Around: 4, Skaggs, 35.15; J. Swanson, 33.8; Alli Arampatzis, 31.85 (PR). JUNIOR VARSITY Team Points: Watertown 131.8, Huron 109.9, Aberdeen Central 105.2 Vault: Ariana Arampatzis, 7.2; Bethany Aman, 7.0; Larissa Swanson, 7.85; Allison Marnette, 7.0; Brianna Haugen, 7.2; Mercedes Charlton, 7.7; Maria Decker, 7.7. Uneven Bars: Ariana Arampatzis, 5.3; Aman, 4.5; L. Swanson, 5.7; Haugen, 4.6; Brittany Malsam, 5.15, Balance Beam: Heather Heyd, 6.4; Ariana Arampatzis, 5.8; Aman, 6.2; L. Swanson, 5.9; Marnette, 7.1; Haugen, 5.3; Charlton, 6.4. Floor Exercise: Heyd, 7.3; Ariana Arampatzis, 6.9; Aman, 6.85; L. Swanson, 6.85; Marnette, 6.1; Haugen, 5.85, All Around: Ariana Arampatzis, 25.2; Aman, 24.55; L. Swanson, 26.3; Haugen, 22.95.